5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 17)
Roman Reigns fires Paul Heyman; Brock Lesnar wrecks shop; SmackDown's worst segment in years?
WWE saved one of 2021's biggest storyline moments for the end of the year.
Roman Reigns has officially split from Paul Heyman, and one of the wrestling's best double acts is in the history books. On the plus side, WWE will probably now put Heyman back beside Brock Lesnar (who needs a mouthpiece way more than Roman) and run with that during WrestleMania 38 season.
The angle made this week's SmackDown newsworthy, but it wasn't the only nod towards the future Friday night had to offer. WWE busily prepared a babyface team to challenge for tag-team gold, and there's some moving and shaking going on with the Ridge Holland/Sheamus tandem too.
Glaring negatives came in the form of more Toni Storm mediocrity, the trials and tribulations of one Shayna Baszler, and a segment so bad it caused fans in Chicago to chant for AEW stars. Vince McMahon can't be happy with that, but he only has himself to blame for signing off on something this dreadful.
Here are all the 'Ups' and the 'Downs' from SmackDown, including that mish-mash of storyline genius and chat show hell.